Keywords

Student engagement, ethical care, middle school, public school

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine if the foundational constructs (student engagement and ethical care) were experienced by the 8th grade students that participated in a morning tutoring program: Future Problem Solvers. A mixed methods design was adopted for the purpose of this study including raw data, survey data, informal observations, and face-to-face interviews. The goal was to determine if the 28 participants (male and female) demonstrated academic success on the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (Science). The study was also conducted in order to explore the level of student engagement and the development of reciprocating relationships based ethical care between the teacher and the students. The findings from the quantitative analysis using the Mann Whitney U indicated that the FSP participants did make academic gains on the FCAT (Science) test to a higher degree than non-participants: Non-Participants (Mean Rank = 182.37) and Participants (Mean Rank = 332.96). The significance was established where p = .00. The quantitative analysis using frequency data also revealed that the majority of the participants reported that they were engaged in learning and made strong efforts when doing and completing their schoolwork. They also participated in class, as well as school based activities. Furthermore, they reported that they felt a sense of belonging and were supported by the staff. The findings from the qualitative analysis indicated that the teacher did model care to the students. He engaged them in dialogue about caring relationships and confirmed and encouraged the best in them. The responses on the interviews completed by the teacher and the principal, as well as the students give evidence that strong relationships developed between the students and the teacher. Moreover, that these reciprocating relationships were built on trust and care. The discussion and interpretations emphasizes the need for professional development, and the need for policy that strives to support student engagement and ethical care above high stakes testing.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2014

Semester

Fall

Advisor

Hopp, Carolyn

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

College

College of Education and Human Performance

Degree Program

Education

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0005456

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005456

Language

English

Release Date

December 2014

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Education and Human Performance; Education and Human Performance -- Dissertations, Academic

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